Importing Mail into PreVeil

This article explains how to import email from another mailbox into your PreVeil account using PreVeil Desktop and Outlook for Windows.

⚠️ Important: We recommend importing only the last 90 days of email into your PreVeil mailbox. Older emails should be archived separately in PreVeil Drive to avoid issues with large mailbox imports.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure that:

• You have installed full PreVeil (desktop app) and created a full PreVeil account.

• You have added your PreVeil account to Outlook.

  • For instructions, see: Add and use PreVeil in Outlook on Windows.

Step 1: Export Your Existing Mailbox to a PST File

1. Open Outlook with your non-PreVeil account.

2. Export your mailbox to a PST file.

   • Detailed instructions are available from Microsoft: Back up your email.

   • Go to File, Open & Export
     
     

     Open

     

   • Click Import/Export
     
     

     Open

     

   • Click Export to a file
     
     

     Open

     

   • Click Outlook Data File (.pst)
     
     

     Open

     

   • When exporting, select only the last 90 days of mail that you want to import into PreVeil

     • Click Filter….
       
       

       Open

       

     • Under the Advanced tab, set criteria:

       • Received on or after [date 90 days ago]
         Set field to Received

         Open

         

         Set date to 90 days ago in MM/DD/YYYY format.
         (For international users, Outlook accepts the ISO format, YYYY-MM-DD)

Open

• Complete the export.

Step 2: Import Mail into PreVeil

1. Open Outlook with your PreVeil account added.

2. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.

3. Choose Import from another program or file and select Outlook Data File (.pst).

4. Select the PST you created in Step 1.

5. Import the contents into your PreVeil mailbox.

6. Wait for the imported material to sync to the PreVeil cloud

Step 3: Archive the Remainder of Your Mailbox in PreVeil Drive

Since importing large mailboxes into PreVeil may cause problems (due to attachments, properties, or highly nested folders), we recommend handling older email differently:

1. Export the remainder of your mailbox (older than 90 days) into a separate PST file.

2. Save this PST file into your PreVeil Drive sync directory.

3. From Outlook, open the PST file directly whenever you need to reference older mail.

Why We Recommend Limiting Imports

Importing an entire mailbox can result in:

• Slow performance or glitches during import.

• Errors with large attachments, nested folders, or unique mail properties.

• Difficulty managing very large numbers of emails.

By importing only the last 90 days, you keep your PreVeil mailbox fast and reliable, while still ensuring that your older mail is securely archived in PreVeil Drive.

You now have your recent mail inside PreVeil, and your older mail safely stored in PreVeil Drive for easy access when needed.

Note: It's important to understand that PreVeil can't permanently delete content from original systems (e.g., backups or other mail systems). It’s the organization’s responsibility to cleanse those non-compliant systems after migration.